Advent Calendar – Outdoor Decorations

My Scottish ancestors did not really celebrate Christmas until the twentieth century and then it was for the children. My Irish ancestors celebrated Christmas quietly. As a result decorating the outside of the house was not something that my ancestors did.

When I was a child my grandmother decorated the outside of her house with big snowmen and candles that lit up inside. These were put on the upper balcony or sometimes on the patio on the first level. She did not decorate the outside of her home until she moved to Canada. This was a North American tradition that was done for the grandchildren.

It was not until we got a house that my parents started putting up outside lights. It was the usual string around the eaves and maybe some around a bush. At one point they gave up the stringed lights and used spot lights which were red and green. If we got a lot of snow around Christmas they stayed in place until the spring thaw. Now there are white lights on bushes and an evergreen decoration on the wall next to the front door. The urns out the front are filled with greenery, red sticks, pine cones and a large glass ball.